1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for realizing virtual multi-channel output and, more particularly, to a method for converting a two-channel output into six-channel output on a personal computer by spectrum analysis.
2. Description of Related Art
Over the several decades, there has been a considerable growth in computer technology. As a result, more functions are incorporated into a computer. For example, a multi-channel output is made possible on a computer. A data format of a six-channel sound source is illustrated in FIG. 1. As shown, labels “L”, “R”, “C”, “LFE”, “S.L”, and “S.R” represent sound sources of left channel, right channel, central channel, low-frequency-effect channel, surround left channel, and surround right channel respectively. A six-channel output from a computer is made possible by running a program in which a decoding of data of six-channel sound source by means of a decoder is performed.
A data format of a two-channel sound source is illustrated in FIG. 2 in which characters “L” and “R” represent left and right channels respectively. Also, it is possible of converting the data format shown in FIG. 2 into that shown in FIG. 1, as illustrated in FIG. 3. As shown, 0s are written into “C”, “LFE”, “S.L”, and “S.R” fields while “L” and “R” fields are maintained the same as that of the two-channel sound source. This means that the central channel, the low-frequency-effect channel, the left surround channel, and the right surround channel of the computer are mute with only the left and right channels being enabled. In other words, channels other than the left and front right channels are wasted in a computer having a six-channel configuration if the sound source consists of only the left and right channels. This is not desirable.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a novel method of realizing multi-channel output from a computer by spectrum analysis so as to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.